Better after a good resharpening?

TRfromMT

TRfromMT

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Jan 4, 2016
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One of the marks against the CRK brand is their softer heat treat. My personal experience with maybe 6 or 7 various CRK is poor edge retention. These were all factory edges. I finally got irritated with the ones I had and sold them off.

But I have to admit the pull is strong to get another one back in the fold!!

So, I'm wondering if the CRK edge retention gets noticeably better after a (few) good sharpening(s) and the edge is back past any heat affected/softened material. I never did do anything more than a very light touch up with a Sharpmaker (extra fine rods). What if it had a good session with a Wicked Edge to set the edge bevel then sharpened?

What's all y'all's experience?
 
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Not sure what age your knives were but CRKs did increase the hardness around 2012 although the birth card may not reflect that hardness increase. You could also look at the old BG 42 blades which were 60-61



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The softer heat treat has been a thing of the past since mid-2013.
Sebenza's made after this have a noticeably higher hardness of 59-60 HRC.

The only thing is that many times they leave the workshop with an edge angle that is too large and which subsequently cannot easily be touched up on a Sharpmaker.
However, once reprofiled to +/- 30 degrees inclusive and given a somewhat toothy edge (i prefer to use diamond abrasives) the knives suddenly perform in a whole different league.
 
My wicked edge setup for a large 21 drop point is 20dps, I used 200 till 1000 grit diamond stones, 1200/1600 ceramics, 14/10µ leather strops (19dps) and finishing with 1/0.5µ leather strops also at 19dps. So far I am happy with its retention. I do appreciate the factory edge though, as its even all the way from heel to point.
 
I'm still rocking the factory edge on mine. For daily use I have no issues with the heat treat.
 
I have second hand CRk's that have been expertly sharpened, and rarely need a crock stick touch up. I think angle of edge is always a trade off .Hard use= broader angle, fine use with steeper angle can dull quicker under harder use... experiment to find what works for you.
 
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Crk heat treatment is better than most. At least for the ones 60-61hrc. They last far better than most s35vn knives.

Yes sharpening it again will be better too.
 
It's been stated that CRK's have a slight convex edge. You may have never fully reached the apex of the edge. Even with older CRK's once the edges are a true v grind, I find them to hold an edge quite nicely.
I've never tried to keep the factory edge once it needs sharpening.
 
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I bought a small sabenza that had been sharpened on a wicked edge to a mirror edge.. It did became dull faster than my factory edges. I would like to restore it to the factory edge but don't want to lose that much blade. guess I will freehand it on my extra fine sharpmaker rod.
 
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Ajack60 said:
It's been stated that CRK's have a slight convex edge. You may have never fully reached the apex of the edge. Even with older CRK's once the edges are a true v grind, I find them to hold an edge quite nicely.
I've never tried to keep the factory edge once it needs sharpening.
Click to expand...

I agree with this statement. If all you did was light touchups with the Sharpmaker, unless you did a lot of those touchups you probably never really reached the apex or created a crisp, clean apex. Years ago, my father told me on several occasions that his Sebenza would not hold an edge. Then one day he said that it actually does hold an edge well. The difference was that after multiple attempts at sharpening he had actually reached the apex.

I have never had an issue with both older and newer heat treated CRKs. I have compared them with Spyderco S30V and S35VN and for all practical purposes I see no difference - and no one seems to complain about Spyderco's heat treat.
 
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Ajack60 Ajack60 D Don M
Tell me more about your comment about not getting to the apex, specific to edge retention, please? I was initially asking about the possibility of sharpening "through" the (possibly, depending on your school of thought) the heat affected material from belt sharpening at the factory. Meaning, does it take a few sharpenings to get to good material underneath? Have people seen positive results after a few sharpenings. I had not considered the affect of apexing (or not) and edge retention.
 
I also did a test on this. Most knives get noticeably better with edge retention after the first 3 to 6 sharpenings. You have to get past the fatigued steel from the factory. The heat generated by the belts that almost all factories sharpen with impacts the edge significantly. I've been pleasantly surprised with how well the S35VN in my small sebenza holds up.

 
Welp... I traded back into a CRK Inkosi insingo (favorite of all my prior CRK) and plan to sort out this edge retention thing.
 
“Yes” to positive results after sharpening.

As stated before here, the slight convex of the CRK factory edge bevel is harder than you think, and takes longer to remove than you think, if using non-convex edge systems like a sharp maker.

Once that factory edge is gone, you can properly sharpen the knife and things get better from there.

Also......I used to think it was hogwash, but after daily carrying a sebenza for years (5 or 6 years maybe now?), I have come to believe better steel lurks past/under the factory edge. My CRKs do seem to get better with age and sharpenings. Might be my imagination too.
 
TRfromMT said:
Ajack60 Ajack60 D Don M
Tell me more about your comment about not getting to the apex, specific to edge retention, please? I was initially asking about the possibility of sharpening "through" the (possibly, depending on your school of thought) the heat affected material from belt sharpening at the factory. Meaning, does it take a few sharpenings to get to good material underneath? Have people seen positive results after a few sharpenings. I had not considered the affect of apexing (or not) and edge retention.
Click to expand...

It wasn’t until I started using a sharpie to mark the edge of the knife that I realized I was not reaching the very edge of the knife. It took me several times sharpening to get rid of the convex edge. I thought and it felt like it was sharp, but didn’t hold the edge very long if that makes any sense. I think I was getting close to the very edge but didn’t reach it. I never could master the Sharpmaker and didn’t keep it long. I now use the KME and have good results with it. Now, when one of my CRK’s needs to be sharpened, I set the edge angle to 22 dps and work a burr on both sides before moving to the next stone. The other thing to consider is leaving a wire edge which will feel and perform like a sharp knife, but won’t hold an edge worth a crap. I now use a leather strop for a final clean up of the edge. IMO, the strop makes all the difference in the world. I try to keep the factory bevels as much as possible.
 
The new inkosi insingo has landed. First thing's first - it got a full strip and clean (grease was all dry and caked), then reassembled with fresh grease and adjusted juuuusssstttt right.

That taken care of, it then went on the Wicked Edge, and is now sporting a hair popping, 19dps polished edge. It was taken to 1000 grit diamond stones, for a bit of a smooth/not toothy working edge.

Time to see what this thing's got.

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I have owned a couple hundred CRK and still don’t get all the soft steel / poor heat treat statements. CRK holds a good edge and easier to resharpen than some of the other harder steels that hold an edge just as long. Far too many are spec readers rather than real edc field users. I only have ever used a Sharpmaker on mine as that’s the only system I use and have over 30+ years experience with this style of sharpener. I have used CRK with A2 in the OPK, ATS-34, BG42, S30V, S35VN and both HC Damascus and SS Damascus in sebenzas. I find them all to perform very similar, while I do feel BG42 is much harder to sharpen.

Hope you find a CRK with an edge to your liking.
 
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